Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-08-20

head and the rafting Of the boughs whenever
a breath of air stirred them. 1t was an eerie
and depressing night, q night that might well
have tried the nerves Of any strong man who,
wet through and worn out, had been obliged
to crouch upon the open and endure it. How
much more awful was it then to tho unfortu-
nate woman who, half broken hearted, fever
stricken and well nigh crazc,l with suffering
Of mind and body, waited in it to sec murder
done! Slowly the minutes passed, and at
every raindrop or rustic of Il bough her
| guilty conscience summoned up a host of
fears. But by tho mere power of her will she
kept them down. She would go through with
it. Yes, she would go through with it. Surely
he must be asleep by now!
They crept up to tho tent and placed their
oars within two inches of his head. Yes, he
was asleep; tho sound Of his breathing rose
and fell with the regularity Of an infants.
jess turned round and touched her COM
panion upon the shoulder. He did not move,
but she felt that his arm was shaking.
snow" she whispered.
Still he hung back. 1t was evident to her
that tho long waiting had taken the courage
out of him.
"Bea man. she whispered again, SO low
that tile sound scarcely reached his enrs, al
though her lips were almost touching them,
"go, and mind you strike homer
Then at last she heard him softly draw the
great knife from the sheath, md in another
second he had glided from her side. Pres
emily sho saw the limo of light that cut out
upon the darkness through the opening Of tho
tent broaden a little, and by that she knew
that he was creeping i'll upon his dreadful
GRAND. Then she turned her head and put
her fingers i'll her ears. But even so she could
SEQ n long line of shadow travelling across tho
skirt Of the tent. So she shut her eyes also
and waited, sick at heart, for sle did not
dare move.
Presently-it might have been five minutes
or only half u minute afterwarl, for she had
lost count Of timo, She felt somebody toucl,
her on the arm. 1t was Jantje.
ais it done?" she whispered again.
He shook his head and drew her away from
the tent. In going her foot caught in ono OF
the guide ropes and shook it slightly.
81 could not do it, missile" he said. Gle is
asleep and looks just like Il child. When I
lifted the knife hc smiled in his sleep, and all
tho strength went out OF my arm, 80 that |
could not strike. And then before l could
got strong again tho ghost of tho old English
woman came aud hit mo in tho back and l
ran away"
~ u h"hh tOtNA Nv bIuSUil u man sJtltllC
would nssurtslly have been blasted then. The
mans cowardice made her mad, but while sho
still chohcd with wrath Il dniier buck, which
had come down from It's stony home to feed
upon tho rose bushes, suddenly sprnng with a
crash almost from her feet, passing away like
IL gray gieiin into the utter darkness.
jess started csA then recovered herself,
guessing what it was, hut tho miserable Hot
| lnntu ut yrI; Drprt.nuln \vit), f.I.r.o,. nrl f1l ,,,o,,
the ground g%rnuui,g on; that it was tho ghost
OF the old tmSlishwnman. Tie had dropped
tho knife us ho fell, and joss, seeing tho inn
ininelt pcrit i'll which they were placed, knelt
down, picked it up, and Kissed into his car
that il he weio not quiet she would kill him.
Ihis paciilel him u little, but no earthly
power could persuade him to enter the tent
again.
What was to be done. What could she dol,
For W minutes or more she buried her face
in her wet hands and thought wildly and
despairingly.
Then Il dark and dreadful determination
entered her mind. Tho man Muller should
not escape. Bessie should not bo sacrificed to
him. Rather than that, she would do the deed
herself.
Without word she rose, animated by tho
tragic agony Of her purpose and the force If
her despair, and glidel toward the tent, the
great knife in her hand. Now, ali! all too
soon, she was inside of it and stood for u
second to allow her eyes to grow accustomed
to the light. Presently she began to see, first,
the outline Of the bed, then the outline of tho
manly form stretched upon it, then both bed
and man distinctly. Jantje had said that lie
was sleeping like n child. lie might have
been, now he was not. On the contrary. his
face was co,lvulscd like TINT Of one in al OK
tremity of fear, und great beads OF sweat
stood upon his brow. 1t was as though he
knew his danger, and was yet utterly power
less to avoid II. He lay upon his back. One
heavy arm, his left, hung over the side of the
bed, the knucklcs Of the hand resting on the
ground; the other was thrown back and his
heat was pillowed upon it. The clothing had
fallen back from his throat and massive chest,
which were quite bnrc.
Jess stool and gazed. "For Bessic's sake,
for Bessic's sakc!' she nlurmurcd, and then.
inipcllcd by d force that seemed to move of
itself, she crept slowly, slowly, to the right
hand side Of tho bed.
At this moment the man woke, and his
opening eyes fell full upon her face. What
ever his dream had been, what he now saw
was far more terrible, for bending over him
was the ghost of the woman he had murdered
in the Vaal! There she was, risen from her
river grave, torn, dishevelled, water yet drip
ping from her hands and hair. Those sunk
and marble checks, those dreadful flaming
eyes could belong to no human being, but
"nly to a spirit. 1t was the spirit Of jess
Croft, tho woman he had murdered, come
back to tell him that there was a living ven
geance and a hell! Their eyes met, and no
creature will ever know the agony Of terror
that he tasted Of before the end came. She
saw his face sink in and turn ashen gray,
while the cold sweat ran from every pore.
He was awake, but fear paralyzed him, be
could not speak or move.
He was awake, and she could hesitate no
more.
He must have seen the flash of the falling
steel, and
She was outside tho tent again, tho red
knife in her hand. She flung the accursed
thing from her. That shrek must have
awakened every soul within q mile. Already
she could family hear the stir Of men dow
by the wagon and the patter Of Jantje run.
ming for his life.
Then she too turned and fed straight up the
bill. She knew not whittier, she cared not
where. None saw her or followed her, the hunt
had broken away to the left after Jantje. Her
heart was lead and her head q rocking sea Of
fire, while before her, around her, and behind
her yelled all the conscience created furies
that run murder to his lair.
On she flew, one sight only before her eyes,
one sound only in her ears. On over the bill,
far into the rain and night.
VI A DNEn OVyr